andym, I completly agree with that statement.

 

So we've got a guy admittedly speeding down the road at 2 a.m. and that doesn't seem like a good enough reason for a cop to investigate further?!! And if you think a cop can't judge speed to within 5 mph by eye than you are saddly underestimating them. And you feel these circumstances, under which the cop pulled him over, to be so unreasonable that you feel the need to quote ol' Jim and Ben as though they just pulled a Rodney King on this guy. Have you ever heard the one about the boy that cried wolf?!!

 

No one (unless I missed it) has asked the most obvious question here - Was the decal obscured or not? Until that question is answered then there really isn't anything worth discussing here...just another half baked "The cops harrassed me!" thread.

*If* a violation existed then you're in the wrong. Make sure your vehicle is in compliance, is that so difficult?

If the decal or any part of the license plate is obscured then it's a violation, and he has the authority to stop you.

If no probable cause existed for him to stop you then he's in the wrong.

I always laugh when people post how - yeah I was speeding, yeah there was an equipment violation - but it was BS.

 

Good debate guys. I don't understand one thing from the original post...I am not familiar with the phrase "ja ja ja"

PS.. I am on the cops side here, of course, It stinks to be pulled over, and I don't want it to happen to me. However, I do remember the days when I was out at 2 or 3 AM, it was usually because I had been drinking since dinner time.
Never had a DUI, or accident thank goodness I survived my "stupid" phase of life..

 

I think something John Quincy Adams said might apply here: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

I can understand your personal feelings, but attitudes like this frighten me, because I see it more every day... "It's for the children!!!" comes to mind. Why not just pull over every single person on the road, then? Mandatory checkpoints every five miles, where you and your vehicle gets searched for the good of the people. Hey, if it saves one life, right?

 

BAM!! I forgot about that one. Nice.


Logistically impossible.

BTW, How do you guys get more than one quote in a post to address?

 

Im not in anyway arguing that big brother goes to far sometimes,or there are jerk cops that will hassle you for whatever. I am however defending the cops who pull people over late night for silly reason to see if they have been drinking or not. What i am confused about is why are you AGAINST this. If a cops pulls someone over for...lets saying their car being to ugly...and finds out they have been drinking and takes them off the road,and in by doing this it prevents that drunk from going off the road and hitting your wife/mother/siblings/significant other etc etc and killing them,how can you be against that? Every drunk that has had to much to drink isnt going to be holding a giant flag out the window screaming im drunk come get me officer is he?

 

I think that's the Spanish for "ha ha ha". The original poster lives in Miami......... sooo............. yeah.

 

Speeding? According to the original poster, he was doing 45 in a 40. Besides, when the cop pulled him over, he didn't say anything about speed, just about the sticker.

Two things follow that:

- Since the cop didn't give him a ticket, he knows it wouldn't have held up in court and didn't want to waste his time. He got what he wanted - the guy on the side of the road and the cop with his nose close enough to smell booze.

- The original poster said that he passed the cop in the other direction, and the cop didn't have his lights on - how did he see the registration sticker? That would have been my question for him, and I bet he wouldn't have a decent answer, cause there really isn't one.

Looking closely at the language in that last sentence, you seem to feel as though the pullover was somewhat unreasonable, but still justifiable. Can you elaborate on that, or am I misreading you?

Also, can you explain to what extent you are willing to allow your civil rights to be violated? How do you determine what's ok and what's not ok? It seems that a bonafide police beating is not ok, but getting pulled over for BS reasons is ok? Or are you saying that the pullover was completely justified?

I covered this above, but let me address it directly to you - the question is irrelevant. The cop couldn't have seen the sticker until AFTER he made the u-turn and pulled up behind the guy. At that point, he knew he wanted to pull him over, and he just needed ANY excuse to do so. Sticker partially obscured? Good enough!

 

Probably, but I was mainly using that as an illustration of what that attitude will lead to... the whole "slippery slope" problem.

Mudder, I'm not against police pulling people over for something suspicious. Most drunk drivers would probably act a bit suspicious in their driving at that time. And in the situation of the origional post, he was speeding and his tags were obstructed, both valid reasons. I was only concerned about the attitude that you can pull over anyone anytime for no reason at all, just in case they're doing something wrong, as long as it saves one life.... I think that leads down the wrong side of the slippery slope.

 

Ugh, enough of the the historical / political quotes already...anyone here ever have an original thought?

 

I can't keep up with this thread guys!!!!

Mudder, I completely understand where you're coming from, I really do. I just happen to disagree 100% with you.

Let me ask you this - how do you feel about seatbelt laws and motorcycle helmet laws? This might seem completely irrelevant, but play along with me.

 

Just to be clear. The standard needed for a cop to stop you is not probable cause, it's reasonable suspicion. Which the Supreme Court(you can thank the Rehnquist Court for this,) means pretty much any reason. Including a cops "instincts".

 

That gives the police WAY too much leeway. So basically, you can get pulled over for any reason at all, as long as the cop is willing to say he had reasonable suspicion.

 

I didn't want to bring race into the picture here, but yeah.